At least seven Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday as the war entered its 47th day following the collapse of a fragile truce, even as Israel’s hawkish foreign minister said that the offensive would continue until “Hamas waves the white flag”.
In an interview with Channel 2, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor lieberman said that the government needs to spell out “a strategic goal” that encompasses “defeating Hamas and bringing it to submission”. “That means Hamas waves the white flag. That is a realistic scenario, and it must be a goal,” he emphasised.
The two sides resumed hostilities on Tuesday after the collapse of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire and talks aimed at finding a lasting end to the current fighting.
Five members of a Palestinian family were killed in air strikes on a home in central Gaza today morning, as Israel continued to bombard the besieged coastal enclave on the 47th day since the start of Operation Protective Edge on July 8. The strikes took the Palestinian death toll in Gaza to 2,098 with more than 10,550 injured, Gaza medics said.